Sphere Media Plus has optioned the screen rights to Thea Lim’s Giller Prize short-listed novel An Ocean of Minutes.

The deal was negotiated by Jeremy Spry, VP of business affairs for Sphere Media and Luke Speed of U.K.-based literary and talent agency Curtis Brown UK.

Set in America in 1981 during a flu pandemic, the dystopian thriller tells the story of a young couple who cling to hope and endure separation. The debut novel from Singaporean Canadian author Lim was published by Simon & Schuster earlier this year.

The adaptation is spearheaded out of Sphere’s Toronto office by development VP Tara Woodbury, with WME currently packaging the TV project for the U.S. and international markets. Virginia Rankin, who was earlier this year upped to SVP of Sphere’s Toronto operations, will produce the adaptation.